I SAT among the green leaves, and heard the nuts falling, The broad red butterflies were gold against the sun, But in between the silence and the sweet birds calling The nuts fell one by one. Why should they fall and the year but half over ? Why should sorrow seek me and I so young and kind ? The leaf is on the bough and the dew is on the clover, But the green nuts are falling in the wind. O, I gave my lips away and all my soul behind them. Why should trouble follow and the quick tears start ? The little birds may love and fly with only God to mind them, But the green nuts are falling on my heart. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH ON A HARE by WILLIAM COWPER THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW TO S.M., A YOUNG AFRICAN PAINTER, ON SEEING HIS WORKS by PHILLIS WHEATLEY THE MORAL FABLES: THE WOLF AND THE WETHER by AESOP |